Stator winding apparatus

• US 5,549,253 A
• Filed: 12/05/1994
• Issued: 08/27/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Globe Products Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Globe Products Incorporated
• Inventors: Dolgas, Patrick A., Clemenz, Gary E., Newman, Lawrence E., Beakes, John M., Heaton, Mark T.
• Primary Examiner(s): MATECKI, KATHERINE A
• Application Number:
  US08/349,410
• Time in Patent Office: 631 Days
• Field of Search: 242/1.1 R, 242/1.1 A, 242/1.1 E, 29/596, 29/605
• US Class Current: 242/432.3
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 15/095 by laying conductors around salient poles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49009 Dynamoelectric machine
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49071 by winding or coiling

Abstract

A stator winding machine has a turret plate mounted for rotation about a vertical axis with stator clamp mechanisms mounted at spaced locations around its periphery for clamping stators to the turret plate with the axes of the stators coplanar with the axis of reciprocation and oscillation of the winding shuttle used to wind coils on the stators. The turret plate is repeatedly indexed in one direction about its vertical center axis to repeatedly sequentially move each of the stator clamp mechanism to a load/unload station, an optional idle station, a winding station, a coil lead terminating station, and then back to the load/unload station. Parts of the machine are quickly replaceable and other parts are programmably adjustable to accommodate different stator configurations.

Claims

1. Stator winding apparatus for winding field coils onto pole pieces of a stator located at a winding station using wires supplied from sources of wire under tension, said apparatus comprising:

a turret plate mounted for rotation about a vertical axis;

at least three stator clamp mechanisms including stator clamps mounted on said turret plate at spaced locations around its periphery for clamping stators to said turret plate at said spaced locations with the center axes of said stators extending horizontally and substantially perpendicularly with respect to said vertical axis and with the end faces of said stators most remote from said vertical axis held by said stator clamps in vertical orientations and spaced a fixed horizontal distance from said vertical axis;

a wire clamp assembly mounted on said turret plate adjacent each of said stator clamp assemblies having wire clamps adapted to temporarily hold coil lead wires extending from coils wound on a stator;

means for repeatedly indexing said turret plate in one direction about said vertical axis to repeatedly sequentially position each of said stators in a load/unload station wherein a newly wound stator is unclamped from said turret plate and removed from said turret plate and replaced by an unwound stator, a winding station at which coils of wire are wound on an unwound stator and coil lead wires extending from said coils are positioned in said wire clamps and severed from the wire sources, and a coil lead terminating station wherein the coil lead wires are connected to terminals mounted on the core of the newly wound stator;

a winding head assembly that winds coils of wire on the stator located at said winding station, said winding head assembly being located adjacent said winding station;

two pairs of winding forms for guiding the wires wound into coils wound on the stator at the winding station;

a pair of winding form-loading mechanisms that move said winding forms toward and away from one another at said winding station;

a pair of programmably adjustable form lock assemblies adjacent said winding station that lock said winding forms to the stator located at said winding station and, after the winding operation is completed, unlock said winding forms from the same stator while said stator is still located at said winding station; and

coil lead terminating means at said coil lead terminating station for connecting said coil lead wires to said terminals on said stator core.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said winding head assembly comprises a winding head having a ram that reciprocates and oscillates about a fixed horizontal axis, said winding head assembly further including a base, means for supporting said winding head on said base for movement back and forth along said fixed horizontal axis, means for moving said winding head along said fixed horizontal axis, and means for clamping said winding head to said base to prevent movement thereof.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said winding head has a ram that reciprocates and oscillates about a fixed horizontal axis, and wherein said turret plate is provided with seats for supporting said stators so that the center lines of said stators are coplanar with said fixed horizontal axis.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said seats are connected to spacers, said seats and spacers being readily removed and replaced by seats and spacers of different heights to accommodate stators of different stack diameters.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said form lock assemblies include form retainer blades engaging said winding forms and holding them against a stator in said winding station and means for moving said blades in vertical paths toward and away from said winding forms, and wherein said seats and said spacers have openings to permit movement of said form retainer blades therethrough.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said pair of programmably adjustable form lock assemblies comprises a pair of parallel, vertically movable form locking blades, a movable carriage, means mounting one of said form locking blades on said carriage, and a motor for moving said carriage and thereby said one of said form locking blades horizontally toward and away from the other of said form locking blades.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one of said pair of winding form-loading mechanisms comprises a carriage movable toward and away from said winding station, a horizontal post extending from said carriage toward said winding head, clamp means mounted on said carriage for releasably clamping a pair of said winding forms to said horizontal post, and means for moving said carriage with said winding forms clamped thereto toward said winding head and positioning said clamped winding forms in the bore of a stator to be wound.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said clamp means comprises a pair of air actuators having piston rods engageable with said clamped winding forms.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a lead pull assembly adjacent said winding station for positioning wires extending to and from the coils wound at said winding station in said wire clamps, said lead pull assembly including first and second wire gripper assemblies and a pair of drive screws, one for each of said wire gripper assemblies, drivingly connected to said wire gripper assemblies for moving said wire gripper assemblies in horizontal directions;

and said lead pull assembly further including a programmably controllable drive motor connected to said drive screws for rotating the same.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said drive motor is connected to said drive screws by means causing said carriages to move in mutually opposite directions.

11. Stator winding apparatus for winding field coils onto pole pieces of a stator located at a winding station using wires supplied from sources of wire under tension, said apparatus comprising:

a winding head assembly that winds coils of wire on the stator located at said winding station, said winding head assembly being located adjacent said winding station;

two pairs of winding forms for guiding the wires wound into coils wound on the stator at the winding station;

a pair of winding form-loading mechanisms that move said winding forms toward and away from one another at said winding station; and

a pair of programmably adjustable form lock assemblies adjacent said winding station that lock said winding forms to the stator located at said winding station and, after the winding operation is completed, unlock said winding forms from the same stator while said stator is still located at said winding station.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein each of said pair of programmably adjustable form lock assemblies comprises a pair of parallel, vertically movable form locking blades adapted to straddle a stator at said winding station, a movable carriage, means mounting one of said form locking blades on said carriage, and a motor for moving said carriage and thereby said one of said form locking blades horizontally toward and away from the other of said form locking blades.

13. A stator winding apparatus for winding field coils onto pole pieces of a stator located at a winding station using wires supplied from sources of wire under tension, said apparatus comprising:

a winding head assembly that winds coils of wire on the stator located at said winding station, said winding head assembly being located adjacent said winding station;

two pairs of winding forms for guiding the wires wound into coils wound on the stator at the winding station;

a pair of winding form-loading mechanisms that move said winding forms toward and away from one another at said winding station, one of said pair of winding form-loading mechanisms comprising a carriage mounted for movement toward and away from said winding station, a horizontal post extending from said carriage toward said winding head, clamp means mounted on said carriage for releasably clamping a pair of said winding forms to said horizontal post, and means for moving said carriage with said winding forms clamped thereto toward said winding head and positioning said clamped winding forms in the bore of a stator to be wound; and

a pair of form lock assemblies adjacent said winding station that lock said winding forms to the stator located at said winding station and, after the winding operation is completed, unlock said winding forms from the same stator while said stator is still located at said winding station.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said clamp means comprises a pair of air actuators having piston rods engageable with said clamped winding forms.

15. Stator winding apparatus for winding field coils onto pole pieces of a stator located at a winding station using wires supplied from sources of wire under tension, said apparatus comprising:

a turret plate mounted for rotation about a vertical axis;

plural stator clamp mechanisms including stator clamps mounted on said turret plate at spaced locations around its periphery for clamping stators to said turret plate at said spaced locations with the center axes of said stators extending horizontally and substantially perpendicularly with respect to said vertical axis and with the end faces of said stators most remote from said vertical axis held by said stator clamps in vertical orientations and spaced a fixed horizontal distance from said vertical axis;

means for repeatedly indexing said turret plate about said vertical axis to repeatedly sequentially position each of said stators in a load/unload station wherein a newly wound stator is unclamped from said turret plate and removed from said turret plate and replaced by an unwound stator and a winding station at which coils of wire are wound on an unwound stator, coil start lead wires leading to said coils are positioned in wire clamps, and coil finish lead wires extending from said coils are positioned in wire clamps and severed from the wire sources;

two pairs of winding forms for guiding the wires wound into coils wound on the stator at the winding station;

a pair of winding form-loading mechanisms that move said winding forms toward and away from one another at said winding station;

a pair of form lock assemblies adjacent said winding station that lock said winding forms to the stator located at said winding station and, after the winding operation is completed, unlock said winding forms from the same stator while said stator is located at said winding station;

a winding head assembly that winds coils of wire on the stator located at said winding station while said winding forms are locked to said stator, said winding head assembly being located adjacent said winding station and having a ram that reciprocates and oscillates about a fixed horizontal axis;

said turret plate having seats for supporting said stators so that the centerlines of said stators are coplanar with said fixed horizontal axis, said seats being connected to spacers, said seats and spacers being readily removed and replaced by seats and spacers of different heights to accommodate stators of different stack diameters.

16. The stator winding apparatus of claim 15 wherein said spacers are connected to said turret by vertically oriented pins on said turret located in bores in said spacers.

17. The stator winding apparatus of claim 15 wherein each of said stator clamp mechanisms comprises a clamp lever pivotally mounted on said turret plate and a stator-engageable clamp jaw mounted on said clamp lever, said clamp jaw being readily removed and replaced by clamp jaws of different dimensions to accommodate stators of different dimensions.

18. The stator winding apparatus of claim 15 wherein each of said stator clamp mechanisms comprises a pair of clamp levers pivotally mounted on said turret plate and a pair of stator-engageable clamp jaws, one for each of said clamp levers, mounted on said clamp levers, said clamp jaws being readily removed and replaced by clamp jaws of different dimensions to accommodate stators of different dimensions.

19. Stator winding apparatus for winding field coils onto pole pieces of a stator located at a winding station using wires supplied from sources of wire under tension, said apparatus comprising:

a turret plate mounted for rotation about a vertical axis;

plural stator clamp mechanisms including stator clamps mounted on said turret plate at spaced locations around its periphery for clamping stators to said turret plate;

means for repeatedly indexing said turret plate about said vertical axis to repeatedly sequentially position each of said stators in a load/unload station wherein a newly wound stator is unclamped from said turret plate and removed from said turret plate and replaced by an unwound stator and a winding station at which coils of wire are wound on an unwound stator, coil start lead wires leading to said coils are positioned in wire clamps, and coil finish lead wires extending from said coils are positioned in wire clamps and severed from the wire sources;

a winding head assembly that winds coils of wire on the stator at said winding station, said winding head assembly being located adjacent said winding station and having a ram that reciprocates and oscillates about a fixed horizontal axis;

a lead pull assembly adjacent said winding station for positioning said coil start and finish lead wires extending, respectively, to and from the coils wound at said winding station in said wire clamps, said lead pull assembly including first and second wire gripper assemblies and a pair of drive screws, one for each of said wire gripper assemblies, drivingly connected to said wire gripper assemblies for moving said wire gripper assemblies in a horizontal direction; and

said lead pull assembly further including a programmably controllable drive motor connected to said drive screws for rotating the same.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said drive motor is connected to said drive screws by means causing said carriages to move in mutually opposite directions.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein a newly wound stator at said winding station is, as a result of an index of said turret plate, moved from said winding station to a coil lead terminating station wherein the coil lead wires are connected to terminals mounted on the core of the newly wound stator and said apparatus further comprises coil lead terminating means at said coil lead terminating station for connecting said coil lead wires to said terminals on said stator core.